Spring-motor.



A. MEIRO. SPRING MOTUR. APPLICATION FILED DEc.2o, |916.

mma m. 12, 19m

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 A.'ME|R0. SPRING Morea. APPucATloN man Dec. 2o. m's.

Patented Mar. 12, 1918, Y

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ADAM MEI-ao, or Moscow, nUssIA.

SPRING-MOTOR.

Specification yof Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 12, 1918.

Application mea December 2o, 191s. Vsemi No. 138,050.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, ADAM Mirino, a subject of the Czar of Russia, residing at Moscow, in the Empire of Russia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-Motors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to spring motors of the type in which the rotation of the working shaft is effected by the unwinding of wound-up spiral springs, placed in drums geared to the shaft. The main feature of the invention consists in assembling the spring drums on auxiliary shafts in several independent groups, distributed around the working shaft, each of which groups may be moved toor away from this central shaft while the motor is running, to kbring in or out of action such a group independently of the others. This affords the possibility of regulating the work of the motor according to the power required and also to wind the separate groups of springs without stopping the motor, which continues to work with the other springs. l"With the object of attaining the possibility of still more accurate accord in the number of workin-g springs withthe required power and also for replacing and winding the damaged separate springs or small sets of springs in each group, the auxiliary shaft of each group is composed of several sections connected together by means of 'coupling clutches, which make it possible to take out any section of the shaft together with the spring drums mounted on same, leaving the other sections of the same group in place. The section taken out can be placed in a special apparatus, in which the springs are brought up to the required tension, after which operation the section can be put in place in the motor without stopping same.

The number of revolutions of the motor is maintained constant with the aid of a centrifugal regulator acting upon brake devices.

In the annexed drawing showing the motor more or less diagrammatically Figure 1 shows a plan view of the motor with the vcover removed; Fig. 2 is a side view of the right hand side, looking in the direction of the arrow in Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a view of the left hand side ofthe motor along the line .fk-B in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sect-ion along the line C-D in Fig. l; Fig. is a longitudinal section of the apparatus for winding the springs in the drums of the 'sections of auxiliary shafts taken off the motor; Fig. 6 is a section of the spring drum Vand a view of its cover.

beam constituting a movable carrier for sectional auxiliary shafts 6 and a driving shaft 7, hereinafter described.

The movement of the .bearing plates 4, which are connected in pairs, as above described, is effected by means of cross shafts 8 and screw shafts 9; two screw shafts being provided for each bearing plate and two v cross shafts being provided for each pair of plates, but, for the sake of clearness,

shafts for only one pair of plates are'shown on the drawings. rIhe shafts 8 extend across the frame l and carry a worm wheel S" at each end. The screw shafts 9 are journaled on the sides of the frame on opposite sides of the openings 3 and one end of each screw-shaft engages a threaded ear 4 on the bearing plate 4 and the other'end is engaged by one of the worm wheels 8. Ro-

vtary movement is imparted to one of the.

shafts 8 by means of a hand wheel lO (Fig. l) mounted on one of them and simultaneous and uniform movement is imparted to the other shaft by a sprocket chain 10 (Fig. 4) operatively connecting said shafts in a well known manner.

The ends of the shafts 6 and 7 of each group are mounted in corresponding plates 4, in opposite sides of the frame so that thel shafts of one group are moved with the plates supporting them.

The shafts 6 are made in sections (one only being so shown'in Fig. l for the sake of clearness) said sections being connected to short coupling shafts 6 mounted in bearing brackets 11 secured to the beams 5, each 45 movement Vto the, central shaft V drawing the front and rear groups each have coupling shaft carrying one or more clutches 12, of any suitable type, adapted to connect with a like coupling on the sections 6. y

Each shaft section 6 has one or 'more spring drums 13 (Fig. 6) rotatably mounted thereon, each drum consisting of a cylindri- .cfal casing having ,closed sides and contain-` ing a strong helical spring 14 which is fastened at one end to the wall of the drum and at the other end to the shaft section 6 on which the drum is mounted. The periphery 'of 4each drum casing is lformed with gea-i' teeth 1,5 by means of which eachdruin is adapted to mesh with a correspondingV gear 15 `whe'el 1601i the transmission shaft 7.

The springs are wound as hereinafter described and on unwinding rotate the drums vwhich transmit their movement to the gear wheels16 and shaft 7. On one end of the 20 shaft 7 is fixedv a gear wheel 17 adapted to `niesli ,when moved iiito position, with a gear l Vwheel 13 fixed on one end of the power shaft 2. On the other end of the shaft 2 is fXed a toothed wheel 19 from which, by

means of anarbitrary number of toothed wheels 20,721, 22, 23,24, 25, 26, and shafts 27, 28,29-, rotation is transmitted to the main sha-ft'l30, on which a fly-whee 31 and a fast andl loose belt pulleyl 32fland 33 respectivelyT are mounted.

Qnthe'shaft 3Q is alsov Xed a pulley 34 wliicliis connected by Va belt with a drivfingfpulley 36 of a centrifugal regulator 37 0f ordinary construction, the spindle 38 of which', acting by'ineans of the spring 39,

:Dresses a frictionA disk or block y40 onto a corresponding disk o r block on the shaft 27, vowing to which fact the speed of the motor is regulated 40' ',ffEa'ch Vpair of plates 4 supports one transvmission shaft 7 and an arbitrary number of Lauxiliary shafts 6, on which the spring ,drums 13 are distributed, forming an inde-k A pendent group of' devices for transmitting in the Vv two shafts 6, land the upper and lower groups each'have four such shafts, but these shafts may be lprovided iii any desired number,

whichinay be `the sameor different for all ythe groups.l y

It! is obvious that by moving outward a g1certain group in the openiiigs3 by means of ,thejtransmilssion mechanism 10, 8, 9, it is gf'possibleftio,uncouple thefgear wheelv17 from the Vgear wheel 18 of the central shaft 2, "when Ait' is: necessary to wind all of this group of, spring drums or reduce the po-wer of the engine toa certain extent. On the contrary,

"bymoying infa groupitis put into work. y ,'Thisfcutti'ng in and out is effected without any troublel owing to the very small speed of Ythe toothd'wheel's o-ii the' shaftsl 6, 7, and 2.

Y l In the drawing, the spring drums are divided up into four groups, which can be brought into or out of action one after the other or simultaneously in any combination. rl`he number of groups may be different, however, on condition that they are arranged concentrically around the shaft 2.

All the springs of a disengaged group canbe wound simultaneously from outside the motor by means of thel following-arrangement; Onfeach left hand plate 4 a toothed wheel 41 is rotatively mounted,V

which wheel is provided with a liandlef41 `and is in ineshwith gear wheels 42 on the corresponding end of they shaftsr. These gear wheels 42 areV fixed to ratchets 43, with which pawls v44 can engage. Similar ratchets 43 cooperating with pawls 44 are fastened on the other end of the shafts 6.

rPhe shafts 7 are also provided with ratchets y 45, with which pawls 46 can engage.y hese pawls are provided with any suitable lever device by meansl of which they can be moved into or out of engagement withthe ratchets. When it is necessary to wind all thespring of a disengaged i group simultaneously, the pawls 46 are moved. into engagement with the ratchet-s on the shaft V7, and the toothed `wheel 41 Vis rotated in the direction correspending tothe winding of the springs. The shafts Gare thereby brought into rotation, which the pawls 44 do not prevent; as

they slide` freely over the teeth' of the ratchets 43, whereas the drums v13y are held in an immovable position owing to the mesh- `ing of their teeth 15 with the gears 1601i 7,1So that the affordingvthe possibility' vof regulating theV degree ofthe winding of the springs and indicating their unwinding, are connected in Va suitableinanner with shafts 6 and7 of. all

the groups. r y

A counter, such as is diagraminatically illustratedin 5', may consist of a sheave on the shaft 6, connected by a band ti to -a slieave fixed on a' wormv shaft62. Thenumber of revolutions of the latter, which may *correspond to thenumber of revolutions of tli'e shaft 6, is indicated by figures on the counting dial 47 -which isfmoved -by the "worin shaft/ina well known manner. Asstated abovev eachfshafty 6is divided .7 into sections connected; together bymeans kof coupling clutchesl 12. This affords a means,` in the case of a spring in one of the sections becomingdamaged, to take the. section out ict instance of the motor andreplace the spring with a new one. As ythe saine .degree of winding has to .be .imparted tothis new spring as all the other springs of the group from which the section-was withdrawn have at the given time, the section is placed in a special apparatus, as shown .1n Figfand provided with ycoupling clutches 12 of the same construction, shaft 7 -with gear wheels 16 and counter 47. After the winding of the spring, the drumlB isl connected in some suitable manner with the shaft 6 in order to prevent the unwinding of the spring before the section is Vput in place. After installing the repaired section between the corresponding clutches 12 of the shaft 6 of the motor and uncoupling of the connection mentioned, the section renews its action, ltaking part in the work of the whole group.

.Owing tothe arrangement of ratchets 43 onlboth ends of the shafts 6, it is possible to withdraw anydesired section of this shaft without interfering with the required immovableness of the part of this sha-ft remaining in the motor.

It will be evident that, while I have shown in the drawing an operative device, still many changes might vbe made in size, shape and arrangement of parts without departing materiallyT from the spirit of my invention, and I wish, therefore, that the drawing be regarded as in a sense diagrammatic.

lhat I claim is: f 1. A spring motor Comprising a driven shaft, a driving shaft, means adapted to operatively connect the shafts, means to move one of said shafts to bring said connecting means into or out yof operative'eonnection, and spring actuated means in driving connection with the driving shaft.

.2. A. spring motor comprising a driven shaft, a driving shaft, means adapted to operatively connect the shafts, means to move one of said shafts laterally to bring said connecting means into or out of operative connection, and spring actuated means in driving connection with the driving shaft.

3. A spring motor comprising a driven shaft, a driving shaft, means adapted to op` eratively connect the shafts, means to move the driving shaft to bring said connecting means into or out of operative connection, and a. spring driven member in driving connection with the driving shaft.

A spring motor comprising a driven shaft, a driving shaft, means adapted to ope atively connect the shafts, means to move the driving shaft laterally to bring said connecting means into or out of operative connection, and a spring driven member in driving connection with the driving shaft.

5. A spring motor comprising a centrally arranged driven shaft, a plurality of driving shafts radially disposed about the latter, means adapted to operatively connect the driving shafts with the driven shaft, means to move the driving shafts radially to bring ythe connecting means into or out of operative relation, and spring driven members in driving connection with the driving shafts.

' 6. A spring' motor, comprising a centrally arranged driven shaft, a gear thereon, a plurality of driving shafts radially disposed about the driven shaft, gears on the driving shafts adapted to engage the gear on the driven shaft, spring actuated gears, gears on the driving shafts in mesh with the spring actuated gears, and means to simultaneously move the spring actuated gears and driving shafts to bring the latter into or out of gear with the driven shaft.

7. A spring motor, comprising a driven shaft, a gear thereon, a driving shaft, a gear on the latter in engagement with the afore` said gear, an auxiliary shaft Acomprising a plurality of alined sections, means for connecting said sections, soring actuated gears rotatable on said sections, and gears on the driving shaft in mesh with the spring actu` ated gears.

8. A springmotor, comprising a driven shaft, a gear thereon, a driving shaft, a gear on the latter for engagement with the aforesaid gear, an` auxiliary shaft comprising a plurality of alined sections, means for detachably connecting said sections, spring actuated gears rotatable on said sections, gears on the driving shaft in mesh with the spring actuated gears, and means to simultaneously move the auxiliary and driving shafts to bring the gear of the driving shaft into and out of engagement with the gear of the driven shaft.

A9. In a spring motor, the combination with ay framing, anda driven shaft journaled therein, of bearing plates slidably mountedin the framing toward and from the shaft, a driving shaft and an auxiliary shaft carried by the plates, driving mechanism connecting the auxiliaryy and driving shaft to rotate the latter, a gear onthe driving shaft, a gear on the driven shaft arranged to be engaged by the aforesaid gear,

` and 'means to move said plates to bring said gears into or out of mesh. y

10. In a spring motor, the combination with a framing, and a driven shaft journaled therein, of a bearing plate slidably mounted in each side of the framing, a rod connecting said plates, a driving shaft journaled in the latter, an auxiliary shaft mounted in the plates and comprising a plurality of alined sections, bearings for said sections carried by the connecting rod, means for detachably connecting said sections, spring actuated gears rotatably mounted on the sections, gears on the driving shaft in mesh with thespring actuated gears, gears on the driving and driven shafts adapted to be brought into vengagement, and vmeans to simultaneously Ymove the bearing plates to bring the last named gears into or out of engagement.

v1l. In a spring motor, the combination with a framing, and a driven shaft journaled therein, of bearing plates slidably mounted in the framing toward and from the shaft,'a driving shaft and an auxiliary shaft carried by the plates, driving mechanism connecting the auxiliary and ldriving Y shafts to rotate the latter, a gear on the driving'shaft, a gear on the driven shaft arranged to be engaged by the aforesaid gear, screw-shafts in operative engagement with the plates, and means to actuate the screw shafts to move the plates toward and from the driven shaft.

l2. A spring motor comprising a driven shaft, a driving shaft, gears adapted to operatively connect the shafts, a movable carrier forv the driving shaft, an auxiliary shaft mounted in said carrier and comprising a plurality of alined shaft sections, means connected With the carrier for supporting the sections, means to detachably connect the latter, a drum rotatably mounted on each shaft section, a coiled spring in each drum connected to the drum and shaft section, means to rotate the sections as a unit independently of the drums towvvind Yup the springs in said drums, and means including the driven shaft to hold the drums stationary during the rotation of the auxiliary shaft.

13. A spring motor, comprising a driven shaft, a driving shaft, gears adapted to operatively connect the shafts, a movable carrier for the driving shaft, an auxiliary shaft mounted in said carrier and comprising a plurality of alined shaft sections, means connected with the carrier for supporting the sections, means to detachablyl connect the latter, a drum rotatably Vmounted on each shaft section, a coiled spring in each drum connected -to the drum and shaft section, means to ,rotate the sections as a Copies of this patent may be obtained for unit independently vof the drums'to wind up the springs in said drums, gears on the latter in engagement With gears on the driving shaft, and paWl and ratchet mechanismvfor holding the latter stationary during the Winding of the springs. I 14. A springvmotor comprising a driven shaft, a drivingshaft, gears adapted to operatively connect the shafts, a movable carrier for the driving shaft, an lauxiliary shaft mounted in said carrier and comprising a plurality of alined shaft'sections, means connected with the carrier for supmechanism forholding the latteristationary during the Winding of the springs, and

a pawl and ratchet mechanism to prevent rotation of the auxiliary shaft in one di'- rection. Y

15. In a spring motor, a driving shaft, a driven shaft, means adapted to operatively connected the shaft, spring actuated means in driving connection With the driving shaft, means to move the latter into or out of operative connectionY With the driven shaft, a main shaft, intermediate shafts for transmitting motion from the driven shaft to the main shaft, and a centrifugal regulator operatively connected with the mainV shaftV and adapted to automatically exert a braking action kon one of said intermediate shafts. f

In Witnessvvhereof I `have hereunto set my hand in presence of two Witnesses.

ENGINEER ADAM MEIROL y Witnesses: Y

HAZEL JESSEN, p GERTRUiJE CLYDE.

ve cents each, by addressing the fCommissioner of Patents,v Washington, I). C.

so porting the sections, means to detachably 

